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Hi- I am trying to figure out what kind of piano I have been given. The owner told me it was from the late 1890's. I can only find the words 'G. Parsons Plymouth' on the front. There is a patent no: 22236 on the frame for the strings. There is also a number on the left side top: 60681. i tried Googling that information and couldn't find anything useful. I hope you can help me. Thank you for your time and effort. (Sorry ...I don't know why the pictures are all upside down.)
Sincerely,
Andrew Phelan
La Habra, Ca
USA

Like most of the pianos that arrive here, this appears to be a typical Edwardian upright, as described on my Edwardian pagehttp://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html
It could just about be late 1890s, but there is not enough information to be precise. As far as I am aware, Parsons was only a dealer, so he would probably have bought in the piano from a wholesaler. I am still looking through my Plymouth lists, but he doesn't appear so far. If you want to search inside the piano for clues, have a look athttp://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

No luck with Parsons yet, but Patent No.22236 indicates that the piano was made by the wholesaler Bansall. This began to appear around 1895, which confuses the issue, because their numbers then were around 22,000.

If you look inside the top of the piano for other numbers, I may be able to date it. 60681 would suggest it was made in 1914, which may be correct. There are some dates of Bansall numbers on my Numbers pagehttp://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html

Thank you-
I didn't know what Bansall was. I didn't know what to look for. I have read numerous pages on this site. I looked all over/under/around/through the piano. I don't see any more information. I pulled the front face completely off and shined lights inside, but nothing visible, other than what I gave you already. Thanks for your help. I am trying to decide what amount of money and time I am willing to spend to make it work again. I will let you know if anything good comes out of this. i appreciate your time and effort.
Sincerely,
Andrew Phelan